Gregory Bateson

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Lore & Background

Bateson was born in Grantchester, England, the youngest son of geneticist William Bateson. He was named after Gregor Mendel. His two brothers died young—John in World War I and Martin by suicide in 1922—which placed family expectations on Gregory. He attended Charterhouse School from 1917 to 1921, earned a BA in biology at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1925, and continued at Cambridge from 1927 to 1929. In 1928 he lectured in linguistics at the University of Sydney. From 1931 to 1937 he was a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and spent the pre-war years doing anthropology in New Guinea and Bali. During World War II, Bateson served in the OSS, designing 'black propaganda' radio broadcasts and working in Burma, Thailand, China, India, and Ceylon. He applied his theory of schismogenesis to help foster discord among enemy fighters. After the war, in Palo Alto, California, he developed the double-bind theory with Donald Jackson, Jay Haley, and John H. Weakland (the Bateson Project, 1953–1963). He was a core member of the Macy conferences on cybernetics (1941–1960) and the later Group Processes conferences (1954–1960). Bateson was married three times: to Margaret Mead (1936–1950), with whom he had a daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson; to Elizabeth Sumner (1951–1957), with whom he had a son, John Sumner Bateson, and twins who died shortly after birth in 1953; and to Lois Cammack (from 1961), with whom he had a daughter, Nora Bateson. He was a lifelong atheist and a member of the Lindisfarne Association. He died at age 76 in the guest house of the San Francisco Zen Center.

Reader's Guide

Bateson's significance lies in his interdisciplinary approach, bridging anthropology, cybernetics, and systems theory to understand human communication and mental illness. His double-bind theory offered a new framework for schizophrenia, emphasizing contradictory messages in family interactions. His concept of schismogenesis, developed from fieldwork among the Iatmul people, described how interactions between individuals can lead to escalating differentiation. Bateson was a key figure in the Macy conferences, helping extend cybernetics to social sciences. He argued that the Treaty of Versailles and the development of cybernetics were the only two anthropologically important events of the 20th century, viewing the former as a pattern of betrayal and the latter as a possibility for improved relationships. His later work focused on a 'meta-science' of epistemology to unify systems theories. His writings, including *Steps to an Ecology of Mind* and *Mind and Nature*, continue to influence fields from anthropology to communication theory.

Did You Know?

• Bateson was named after Gregor Mendel, the Austrian monk who founded modern genetics.
• His brother Martin committed suicide by gunshot under the statue of Anteros in Piccadilly Circus on 22 April 1922, which was their brother John's birthday.
• During WWII, Bateson served in the OSS alongside Julia Child (then Julia McWilliams) and designed 'black propaganda' radio broadcasts.
• Bateson argued that the Treaty of Versailles and the development of cybernetics were the only two anthropologically important events of the twentieth century.
• He was appointed to the Regents of the University of California by Governor Jerry Brown, but resigned from the Special Research Projects committee in 1979 in opposition to the university's work on nuclear weapons.